Tuesday, 8 March 2016

A Comparison of Ordination Vows

I have had the privilege of serving in
three presbyterian denominations, the Church of Scotland, The Orthodox
Presbyterian Church, and the Free Church of Scotland. In each I sincerely
and honesty subscribed to certain ordination questions. However, in the Church
of Scotland these vows were meaningless for many who took them – they had no
genuine commitment to the Confession of Faith. In the OPC and the FCS biblical
discipline is maintained, and the required promises are enforced. Both
the FCS and the OPC were born in secession and separation from a mother church
for doctrinal reasons. Similarly, the Presbyterian Church in America,
(PCA), was a church that separated from a doctrinally compromised denomination.

It is a useful exercise to compare the
ordination vows of these three denominations:

1 SCRIPTURE

OPC

Do you believe the Scriptures of the
Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith
and practice?

PCA

Do you believe the Scriptures of the
Old and NewTestaments, as originally given, to be the inerrant Word of God, the
only infallible rule of faith and practice?

FCS

Do you believe the Scriptures of the
Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, and the only rule of faith and
manners?

All three focus on the place of
Scripture as a rule for faith and practice. (The FCS uses “manners” in the
archaic sense of “conduct”. It is always possible that someone thinks
this is about etiquette rather than conduct.) The OPC and PCA
specifically speak of the inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture.

2 CONFESSION OF FAITH

OPC

Do you sincerely receive and adopt the
Confession of Faith and Catechisms of this Church, as containing the system of
doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures?

PCA

Do you sincerely receive and adopt the
Confession of Faith and the Catechisms of this Church, as containing the system
of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures; and do you further promise that if
at any time you find yourself out of accord with any of the fundamentals of
this system of doctrine, you will on your own initiative, make known to your
Presbytery the change which has taken place in your views since the assumption
of this ordination vow?

FCS

Do you sincerely own and believe the
whole doctrine contained in the Confession of Faith, approven by former General
Assemblies of this Church, to be founded upon the Word of God; and do you
acknowledge the same as the confession of your faith ; and will you firmly and
constantly adhere thereto, and to the utmost of your power assert, maintain,
and defend the same, and the purity of worship as presently practised in this
Church ?

The language of the FCS is again
somewhat archaic and verbose. Both the FCS and the PCA use language that
requires a candidate to continue in adherence to the Confession whereas that is
not made explicit in the OPC vow. The FCS also includes a commitment to
the purity of worship in this vow.

3 CHURCH GOVERNMENT AND
DISCIPLINE

OPC

Do you approve of the government,
discipline, and worship of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church?

Do you promise subjection to your
brethren in the Lord?

PCA

Do you approve of the form of
government and discipline of the Presbyterian Church in America, in conformity
with the general principles of Biblical polity?

Do you promise subjection to your
brethren in the Lord?

FCS

Are you persuaded that the Presbyterian
government and discipline of this Church are founded upon the Word of God, and
agreeable thereto; and do you promise to submit to the said government and
discipline, and to concur with the same, and not to endeavour, directly or indirectly,
the prejudice or subversion thereof, but to the utmost of your power, in your
station, to maintain, support, and defend the said discipline and Presbyterian
government by Kirk-Session, Presbyteries, Provincial Synods, and General
Assemblies?

Also

Do you promise to submit yourself
willingly and humbly, in the spirit of meekness, unto the admonitions of the
brethren of this Presbytery, and to be subject to them, and all other
Presbyteries and superior judicatories of this Church, where God in His providence
shall cast your lot; and that, according to your power, you shall maintain the
unity and peace of this Church against error and schism, notwithstanding of
whatsoever trouble or persecution may arise, and that you shall follow no
divisive courses from the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government of this
Church?

Again the FCS language is somewhat
archaic and verbose, but spells out in detail a commitment to biblical
Presbyterianism. The FCS also explains what it means to be subject to our
brothers in the Lord

4 MINISTERIAL LIFE

OPC

Have you been induced, as far as you
know your own heart, to seek the office of the holy ministry from love to God
and a sincere desire to promote his glory in the gospel of his Son?

Do you promise to be zealous and
faithful in maintaining the truths of the gospel and the purity, the peace, and
the unity of the church, whatever persecution or opposition may arise unto you
on that account?

Do you promise to be faithful and
diligent in the exercise of all private and personal duties which become you as
a Christian and a minister of the gospel, as well as in all the duties of your
office, endeavoring to adorn the profession of the gospel by your life, and
walking with exemplary piety before the flock over which God shall make you
overseer?

PCA

Have you been induced, as far as you
know your own heart, to seek the office of the holy ministry from love to God
and a sincere desire to promote His glory in the Gospel of His Son?

Do you promise to be zealous and
faithful in maintaining the truths of the Gospel and the purity and peace and
unity of the Church, whatever persecution or opposition may arise unto you on
that account?

Do you engage to be faithful and
diligent in the exercise of all your duties as a Christian and a minister of
the Gospel, whether personal or relational, private or public; and to endeavor
by the grace of God to adorn the profession of the Gospel in your manner of
life, and to walk with exemplary piety before the flock of which God shall make
you overseer?

FCS

Are not zeal for the honour of God,
love to Jesus Christ, and desire of saving souls, your great motives and chief
inducements to enter into the function of the holy ministry, and not worldly
designs and interests?

Have you used any undue methods, either
by yourself or others, in procuring this call?

Do you engage, in the strength and
grace of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Master, to rule well your own family, to
live a holy and circumspect life, and faithfully, diligently, and cheerfully to
discharge all the parts of the ministerial work, to the edification of the body
of Christ?

All three denominations look for
godliness of conduct and a holy life in their ministers. Ministers are
not only teachers, they are to be examples to the flock.

5 CALL TO A PARTICULAR
CONGREGATION

OPC

Are you now willing to take the charge
of this congregation, in agreement with your declaration when you accepted
their call? And do you promise to discharge the duties of a pastor to them as
God shall give you strength?

PCA

Are you now willing to take the charge
of this church, agreeable to your declaration when accepting their call? And do
you, relying upon God for strength, promise to discharge to it the duties of a
pastor?

FCS

Do you accept of and close with the
call to be pastor of this congregation, and promise, through grace, to perform
all the duties of a faithful minister of the gospel among this people?

6 REJECTION OF ERRORS

OPC – None

PCA – None

FCS

Do you disown all Popish, Arian,
Socinian, Arminian, Erastian, and other doctrines, tenets, and opinions
whatsoever, contrary to, and inconsistent with, the foresaid Confession of
Faith?

The OPC and PCA rest in a positive
acceptance of the doctrines of the Confession; the FCS also insists on a
renunciation of errors. These particular errors are those of 1647.
Although still relevant today, there is no renunciation of major current
theological errors such as false charismatic revelations, the Federal Vision
theology, or of major moral errors such as the acceptance of homosexual conduct
in the church.

7 ADHERENCE TO THE ORIGINAL CAUSE
OF SECESSION

OPC – None

PCA – None

FCS

Do you believe that the Lord Jesus
Christ, as King and Head of the Church, has therein appointed a government in
the hands of Church-officers, distinct from, and not subordinate in its own
province to, civil government, and that the Civil Magistrate does not possess
jurisdiction or authoritative control over the regulation of the affairs of
Christ’s Church; and do you approve of the general principles embodied in the
Claim, Declaration, and Protest, adopted by the General Assembly of the Church
of Scotland in 1842, and in the Protest of Ministers and Elders, Commissioners
from Presbyteries to the General Assembly, read in presence of the Royal
Commissioner on 18th May 1843, as declaring the views which are sanctioned by
the Word of God, and the standards of this Church, with respect to the
spirituality and freedom of the Church of Christ, and her subjection to Him as
her only Head, and to His Word as her only standard?

All three churches were born of
secession. (OPC from the PCUSA, 1936; PCA from the PCUS, 1973; FCS from the
Church of Scotland, 1843) The FCS alone imbeds the history of this
secession in its public ordination vows, requiring office-bearers to verbally
adhere to the formal cause of secession.

It could be argued that while the
original cause of secession of the FCS is important, it is no longer necessary
or appropriate that this be included in the public ordination vows. It is
now 173 years since the secession; will the FCS still be requiring this public
commitment in 2043?

It is interesting that the FCS did not
originally require this public affirmation of its ordinands – they subscribed
to a written statement to the same effect, but the formal
ordination service did not include this lengthy and historical statement.
The questions were used under Interim Acts of Assembly from 1844, though
the formula was first adopted in 1846.

(See: “Report of the Scottish
sub-committee on creeds and formulas of subscription to the General
Presbyterian council to be held at Philadelphia in 1880". This is an
extremely interesting study of the history of subscription in various
denominations in Scotland up to 1880)

So, here are a number of issues that
this comparison of ordination vows raises, particularly for the FCS.
Firstly, should the public service of ordination not be in contemporary
language, rather than frozen in the language of 1843 and before? Secondly, is
the public abjuration of specific errors necessary, given that the positive
commitment to the Confession already covers such errors? Similarly, if
the public abjuration of specific errors is required, why these specific errors
alone and not contemporary errors? Also, is a public adherence to
specific historical documents of 1842 and 1843 still relevant to the FCS today,
and if it is, can it be done, as originally was the case, by a written
subscription rather than by an oral response?

The FCS is a modern, evangelical and
Reformed church. It may be time to look afresh at our ordination service.
The OPC and PCA give us guidance in this respect. Our public service of
ordination is important; it may be the first time that some of those present
have come into contact with the FCS. Are we giving the impression of a
church frozen in the past, or of a vibrant contemporary Reformed church that is
moving forward in the cause of the Gospel while retaining our full commitment
to Reformed orthodoxy?

About Me

With degrees in both philosophy and theology, I have lived and worked in the UK, West Africa (working in theological education) and the USA. As a Teaching Elder I served for 19 years in the Church of Scotland and 4 years in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (USA). I am a minister of the Free Church of Scotland, and a member in St Andrews Free Church, Fife.

I am married to my wonderful wife Aileen, who has supported and moulded me over 40 years of marriage - an ongoing project that may yet pay dividends, although it requires great patience on her part.